The silence after the fall of the Seam was unnatural.
Not peaceful — emptied.
For the first time in months, Hana couldn't hear the hum of the invisible threads, the metallic whisper that had haunted every machine in Seoul. The air felt too quiet, like the world itself was waiting for something that hadn't arrived yet.
Keller stirred beside her. The silver light that once clung to his veins was gone, leaving only pale skin and the faint tremor of exhaustion. His breath came slow and uneven, but steady enough to remind her he was real — not another flicker in the dark.
Hana sat back against the cold tunnel wall, letting the stillness settle between them. The last few hours felt like a fever dream — the flickering corridors, the collapsing code, the blinding burst when she'd reached for him.
Now all of it was gone.
And yet… she still felt something.
